Attorney-Client Agreement
This attorney-client agreement (“Agreement”) shall be effective on the date that Client completes a purchase on Leeran S. Barzilai, A Professional Law Corporation’s online store (on website www.lbatlaw.com), and shall be considered complete once Client transfers money to Leeran S. Barzilai, A Professional Law Corporation.
For a brief summary of the terms for this Agreement, please see Summary of Leeran S. Barzilai, A Professional Law Corporation’s Attorney-Client Agreement.
“Client” sometimes referred to as “you” throughout this Agreement means the individual that completed a purchase on Leeran S. Barzilai, A Professional Law Corporation’s online store, and, if applicable, any agent who made a purchase on Leeran S. Barzilai, A Professional Law Corporation’s online store on behalf of someone else.
“Attorney” sometimes referred to as “us” or “we” throughout this Agreement means Leeran S. Barzilai, A Professional Law Corporation.
“Online Store” means Leeran S. Barzilai, A Professional Law Corporation’s online store where you can make purchases directly through the www.lbatlaw.com website.
APPLICATION OF THIS AGREEMENT. This Agreement only applies to purchases from the Online Store relating to revocable living trusts and other estate planning services as discussed and listed in Section 5 below (i.e. Revocable Living Trust (married and single), Advance Healthcare Directive, Power of Attorney, Attaining Employer ID No. from IRS, and Last Will & Testament). If you made a purchase from the Online Store for a service not listed in this Agreement, you can find a copy of the terms and conditions for those services HERE.
1. ESTATE PLANNING INFORMATION. In accordance with the terms, policies, and disclaimers made on www.lbatlaw.com, which you agreed to by completing your purchase, we will be sending you estate planning materials and information sheets upon your purchase, which, in part, requests certain personal and family information plus information relating to your assets and liabilities. This information is necessary for us in preparing the Revocable Living Trust document, and other services purchased through the Online Store. You must complete them and return them to us as soon as practicable, as we are not able to complete the services you purchased without them. If you have any questions, and/or need help filling out the document, please send your questions to (info@lbatlaw.com).
In order for us to complete these services at a competitively lower fixed cost, it is expected that you, as clients put forth a good faith effort and review the information provided to you upon your purchase.
The materials enclosed upon your purchase are:
(a) This Attorney-Client Agreement;
(b) A Summary of This Attorney-Client Agreement;
(c) An Intake Form; and
(d) Instructions for filling out the Intake Form.
2. ATTORNEY’S SCOPE AND DUTIES. Client retains Attorney to prepare a Revocable Living Trust, and, only if Client made extra purchases through the Online Store, and, only to the extent that Client in fact selected and paid for those optional additional purchases, a transmutation agreement, trustee services, attaining an employer identification number, and/or opening a trust bank account. This Agreement does not include representation for any other matter other than that described above. This Agreement does not cover other related claims that may arise and may require legal services.
3. CLIENT’S DUTY. Client shall communicate promptly and truthfully with Attorney, cooperate with Attorney, and provide all requested information fully and accurately. Client shall also review the information provided by Attorney, and ask any questions Client needs answered to understand such information so that Client can accurately complete the Intake Form.
4. DISCLAIMER OF GUARANTEE. Attorney’s duty is to only provide services for the items that Client paid for on Online Store. Attorney does not guarantee that any services provided to Client will provide the full range of traditional and non-traditional benefits provided with a Revocable Living Trust, since it is the Client’s responsibility to accurately provide the information required to draft an appropriate Revocable Living Trust, as well as maintaining and operating the Revocable Living Trust in accordance with all laws and regulations. Client also hereby acknowledges and consents to follow all informative information provided. Lastly, CLIENT is solely responsible for updating their testamentary documents periodically (i.e. every three to five years) to ensure it is properly adjusted to the changes in law that happen over time and to transfer title to newly acquired assets.
5. FEES FOR SERVICE.
(a) Unless other discounts are provided and accepted, Client agrees to pay for the legal services as follows:
(i) Revocable Living Trust (Married) $1,599.00
(ii) Revocable Living Trust (Single) $1,399.00
(iii) Advance Healthcare Directive (medical) $250.00
(iv) Power of Attorney (financial) $250.00
(v) Attaining Employer ID No. from IRS $250.00
(vi) Last Will & Testament $400.00
* Please note that a purchasing a Revocable Living Trust includes a pour-over will, power of attorney, and advance healthcare directive in its price (one of each for Single, and two of each for Married).
(b) Attorney will earn portions of the fees for each service as follows:
(i) Revocable Living Trust (Married and Single): One-third (1/3) of the fee will be earned upon delivering the estate planning materials (as described in section 1 of this Agreement), whether delivery was made directly through email or mail, or indirectly by way of providing Client with access to download such materials. The second one-third (1/3) of the fee will be earned upon accepting and reviewing Client’s submitted Intake Form, and other documents, if applicable. The final one-third (1/3) of the fee will be earned upon completion of the Revocable Living Trust, whether accepted by Client or not.
(ii) Advance Healthcare Directive (medical): This fee is earned upon purchase and delivering document and instructions to fill it out and execute it. It is immaterial whether delivery was made directly through email or mail, or indirectly by way of providing Client with access to download such materials. This purchase is non-refundable.
(iii) Power of Attorney (financial): This fee is earned upon purchase and delivering document and instructions to fill it out and execute it. It is immaterial whether delivery was made directly through email or mail, or indirectly by way of providing Client with access to download such materials. This purchase is non-refundable.
(iv) Attaining Employer ID No. from IRS: This fee is earned upon purchase and delivery will be made directly to address provided by Client. If Client fails or refuses to provide Attorney with an address, Client authorizes Attorney to send it to Attorney’s office, and Attorney shall also have the right to open the mail so that Attorney can email the Employer Identification Number to Client’s email. This purchase is non-refundable.
(v) Will: One-third (1/3) of the fee will be earned upon delivering the an Intake Form to client whether delivery was made directly through email or mail, or indirectly by way of providing Client with access to download such materials. The second one-third (1/3) of the fee will be earned upon accepting and reviewing Client’s submitted Intake Form. The final one-third (1/3) of the fee will be earned upon completion of the Will, whether accepted by Client or not.
*Please note that the processing fee, provided in Section 5(e) below, will be deducted from the total payment price prior to calculating the portion of fees earned in accordance with this Section 5(b).
(c) Right to Alter, Refuse, and/or Reject Discount: Attorney reserves the right to refuse and reject discounts used or applied to your purchase, even after a purchase is made–especially if a discount is used to gain a lower rate than stated in our products’ descriptions. Failure to remedy an unauthorized payment amount by paying the purchase price amount less the maximum allowable discount may result in terminating this Agreement, while still subjecting you to collection of fees owed for work already provided. Attorney shall have absolute discretion in terminating this Agreement for this reason.
(d) Notary Services Not Include: We do not provide notary services and are, therefore, not included in the flat fees stated above. Thus, it is your responsibility to get your estate planning documents notarized.
(e) All amounts Client pays through the Online Store shall incur a 3.49 percent processing fee, and an additional fee of $0.49 per transaction. If purchase is made with a foreign credit card (i.e. payment is made with a credit card not issued in the United States and/or does not use the United States dollar as its standard currency), an additional 1.5 percent processing fee will be charged. All processing fees will be included in the purchase price, and are not refundable. For the avoidance of doubt, $3.49 plus an additional $0.49 will be paid automatically to process a $100.00 payment made on the Online Store, and the total $3.98 processing fee is not refundable.
(f) Payment Made to Attorney Checking Account: Client authorizes and hereby provides its written consent that all flat fees paid to Attorney through the Online Store. Client provides this authorization knowing that Client has the right to require the flat fee to be deposited into a client trust account until fees are earned in accordance with this Agreement, and that Client is entitled to a refund of any unearned amount and/or fees in the event that Client terminates this Agreement prior to services being completed in accordance with this Agreement. Although Client provides its express written consent and authorization for the flat fees to be deposited into Attorney’s Checking Account (instead of a client trust account), Client shall still be entitled to all refunds owed, if any, as may be determined by the terms of this Agreement. If Client wishes for all amounts to be paid into a client trust account, Client shall contact Attorney directly and make payment via check or bank transfer, as the Online Store’s payment processing system is directly linked to Attorney’s Checking Account.
(g) Extra Fee for Customization: If Client wishes that Attorney customize the services purchase through the Online Store, Client shall pay an additional fee. The additional fee will be based on the hours spent purely on customization and will be charged at a rate of $350.00 per hour if done by an Attorney, and $175.00 per hour if done by a paralegal or legal assistant. All hourly rates are billed in increments of one-tenth (0.10) of an hour. Since it is hard to determine the amount of time it would require for customization since each individual’s needs and desires are unique, Attorney cannot predict in advance what the total amount of the legal fees will be for any customizations.
6. NEGOTIABILITY OF FEES. The fees set forth above are not set by law, but agreed to between Attorney and Client as reasonable—especially considering the average price for comparable services provided by other attorneys in California are typically higher than that provided by Attorney.
7. TAX LIABILITIES, RETURNS, REPORTS, AND FILING REQUIREMENTS. In addition to the preparation of so-called “testamentary” estate planning instruments (such as a revocable living trust, a will, durable powers of attorney for property management and personal care, and an advance health care directive), you may decide to make sales or gifts of property, outright or in trust, in carrying out your estate plan; and you or one or more of your family members, friends, or colleagues may act as trustee of any such trust. These gifts or trusteeships may require the filing of gift, income, and other tax returns and reports with various governmental entities and the payment of various fees, taxes, or other assessments; and the failure to do so may result in liability for substantial interest and penalties. Although we may advise you as to tax liabilities involved in making such sales or gifts or acting as trustee of any such trust, we rarely, if ever, advise Clients with respect to these filing and payment requirements. Therefore, you must assume that responsibility yourself or look to your accountant or other tax adviser to advise you in this regard, unless you ask us specifically to advise you with respect to these requirements.
8. DUAL REPRESENTATION (APPLIES TO MARRIED COUPLES AND DOMESTIC PARTNERS). Although you are married and generally have common legal interests and obligations, conflicts of interest may arise between the two of you with respect to various matters during or following the estate planning process, such as the character of your property (i.e., whether it is separate or community [or quasi-community] property) and how to dispose of it during your lifetimes and at your deaths. Despite the possibility of potential conflicts, you have requested this firm to represent both of you with respect to your estate plan. However, if you anticipate that such conflicts would be serious, it may be better for each of you to have separate independent counsel at the outset to avoid the possibility that our advice to one of you is unduly influenced by our dual representation. Under such circumstances, one attorney ordinarily may not represent both of you.
If you decide to go forward with our dual representation of you, and one or more conflicts arise between the two of you of such a nature that it is impossible in my judgment for us to perform our obligations to each of you in accordance with this Agreement, we will withdraw at that time from all further dual representation of both of you and advise either or both of you to obtain independent counsel.
Finally, you have each agreed that all information that we receive from either or both of you in the course of our dual representation of you is nonconfidential between you regardless of the manner in which it is obtained (e.g., in conferences with both of you or in private telephone or personal conferences with only one of you, including any conferences that may have taken place before the date of this letter). However, this Agreement would not prevent either of you from changing or revoking your will or other estate planning instruments after we have completed your estate plan, without the knowledge or consent of the other.
9. PRIOR INFORMED WRITTEN CONSENT AND WAIVER OF FUTURE CONFLICT. OUR AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE ESTATE PLANNING SERVICES TO YOU IS CONDITIONED UPON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT WE ARE FREE TO PROVIDE LEGAL SERVICES TO ANY CLIENT (INCLUDING YOUR ADVERSARIES) AND TAKE POSITIONS ADVERSE TO YOU IN ANY MATTERS (WHETHER INVOLVING THE SAME SUBSTANTIVE AREA(S) OF LAW FOR WHICH YOU HAVE RETAINED US OR SOME OTHER RELATED AREA(S), AND WHETHER INVOLVING TRANSACTIONS, COUNSELING, LITIGATION, OR OTHERWISE) THAT ARE NOT SUBSTANTIALLY RELATED TO YOUR ESTATE PLAN OR OTHER MATTERS FOR WHICH YOU MAY HEREAFTER RETAIN US. I NTHIS CONNECTION YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT WE PROVIDE SERVICES ON A WIDE VARIETY OF LEGAL SUBJTECTS TO A LARGE NUMBER OF CLIENTS. (A SUMMARY OF OUR CURRENT PRACTICE AREAS AND THE INDUSTRIES IN WHICH WE REPRESENT CLIENTS CAN BE FOUND ON THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES: www.gettoli.com; www.buyatrust.com; www.lbatlaw.com). YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONSULT WITH OTHER COUNSEL ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS WAIVER PRIOR TO MAKING YOUR PURCHASE THROUGH THE ONLINE STORE. MOREOVER, YOU HEREBY ACKNOWELDGE AND PROVIDE YOUR PRIOR INFORMED WRITTEN CONSENT FOR WAIVER OF FUTURE CONFLICTS AS IT PERTAINS TO FUTURE REPRESENTATION OF OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS AND CLOSE FRIENDS YOU PLAN TO PROVIDE FOR THROUGH YOUR ESTATE PLANNING INSTRUMENTS (INCLUDING CHILDREN, RELATIVES, ETC), FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU LEAVE MONEY FOR YOUR DAUGHTER AS PART OF YOUR ESTATE PLAN, YOU ARE GIVING HER UNRESTRICTED ACCESS TO SPEND THAT MONEY IN ANY MANNER SHE WISHES, EVEN IF YOU DISAPPROVE OF HOW SHE ENDS UP CHOOSING TO SPEND IT.
10. DISCLOSURES TO AGENTS ASSISTING ATTORNEY. Client agrees to allow Attorney to disclose confidential information to agents assisting Attorney in drafting, preparing, funding, and providing any and all matters to provide the scope of services purchased.
11. NATURE OF REPRESENTATION. This clause confirms that, unless Attorney otherwise agrees in writing, Attorney’s engagement is solely with Client (if married, this includes both spouses) for the services purchased through the Online Store. By entering into this Agreement, we do not represent you in any fiduciary or other capacity except as it relates to preparing your trust document, and potentially other matters (such as attaining an Employer Identification Number from the IRS) if such services were purchased in addition to the trust. Moreover, by entering this Agreement, Attorney does not represent or owe a fiduciary duty or any legally affective duty to any other individuals or entities not named as Clients herein (again, if married, this includes both spouses), whether or not related to or otherwise affiliated with Clients.
12. CONTRACT ATTORNEYS. Client gives Attorney authority to contract with any and all other attorneys at no additional costs to Client. For customization, Client gives Attorney authority to contract with any other attorneys at the same hourly rate provided under this Agreement to complete such customization requests. Client understands and agrees it is still obligated to pay the attorney fees and costs under this Agreement.
13. TERMINATION OF REPRESENTATION. Representation of Client ends upon completion and delivery of the purchased service unless otherwise terminated by Client. Client may terminate this Agreement at any time, and for any reason in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, subject to the fee schedule agreed to and described herein under Section 5 of this Agreement.
14. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Agreement (including the attached consent for dual representation letter) contains the entire agreement between Client and Attorney. No other agreement, statement, or promise made on or before the effective date of this Agreement is binding on Client and Attorney.
15. UNENFORCEABILITY. If any provision of this Agreement is held in whole, or in part, to be unenforceable for any reason, the remainder of that provision and of this entire Agreement will be severable and remain in force.
16. MODIFICATION. This Agreement may be modified by subsequent agreement of Client and Attorney only by an instrument in writing signed by Client and Attorney.
17. EXECUTION. This Agreement shall be deemed executed on the date that Client makes purchase on the Online Store. If further documents need to be executed by Clients to ensure this Agreement is valid and binding, this Agreement shall be effective (e.g. Client’s spouse needs to sign) this Agreement shall be deemed executed, valid and binding to the extent legally possible (e.g. Agreement is still legally binding on Client who made the purchase on the Online Store). Client shall also reasonably facilitate Attorney in ensuring that any further documents and/or agreements are executed by Client and/or Client’s spouse if required.
18. U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT CIRCULAR 230. As a result of rules promulgated under U.S. Treasury Department Circular 230, any written advice rendered by our firm concerning a federal tax issue is subject to certain requirements concerning form and content. Depending on the nature of the federal tax issue or issues addressed by the advice, it is possible that you may not be able to rely on the advice to avoid U.S. federal income tax penalties with respect to issues addressed therein. Alternatively, you may not be able to rely on the advice to avoid U.S. federal income tax penalties with respect to issues or conclusions not specifically addressed by the written advice. The extent to which our written advice is intended to provide protection against U.S. federal income tax penalties, and the cost of providing such advice, will be discussed with you from time to time as appropriate.
19. AUTHORIZATION. Client represents and warrants that all necessary authorizations and other actions have been taken such that execution, delivery, and performance of this Agreement and all other actions taken or to be taken in connection with this Agreement, including, but not limited to, making a purchase on the Online Store, have been fully authorized.